Amelie Mauresmo still finishes No. 1 this year on a new ranking scale I've conjured up. It's the Envy Meter. Suppose you were a perennial, knocking- on-the-door contender (Nadia Petrova, let's say), and you had the opportunity to trade results with any of the other top players in '06. I'd say you'd steal Amelie's before Justine's. Two slam titles trumps the year-end ranking, even with Justine's stellar performance of making all four finals and winning one. Your thoughts?
 -- Ted C., New York City

The last thing tennis needs is another set of rankings. But your idea made me smile in agreement. JH-H gets my MVP nod, but I do think most players would prefer Mauresmo's season. In her case, there's the overlay of personal history. Looking back on '06, one of my fondest memories is Mauresmo winning Wimbledon and then gushing to Sue Barker, "I don't want to talk about my nerves any more!" This was one instance where the Tennis Fates got it right.

After watching the first couple of rounds of the Masters Cup Finals, it seems to me that between James Blake, Andy Roddick and the Bryan brothers the U.S. should be the clear-cut favorites for a Davis Cup title. Why haven't the Americans fared better in this event? Obviously different surfaces yield different results for the American players, but are the incentives of playing for pride, rather than a paycheck, also to blame? Should we instead be focusing on how to make the Davis Cup a more popular event, so that both players and fans can "raise the stakes" of this event?
 -- Joe McNeal London via St. Petersburg, Fla.

I have a one word answer. Clay. If the Americans could play every tie on hard courts, the Cup would be prominently displayed at the USTA headquarters. The incentive of pride has little to do with it; for whatever else you want to say about the American players, their commitment to Davis Cup is unimpeachable. The ITF fiddles while the Davis Cup becomes less relevant with each year. A suggestion that the format needs to be changed is seen as either heresy or the bleating of ugly Americans.

If trends of the last six months indicate anything, David Nalbandian is in trouble for '07. I crunched the rankings numbers for the second half of '06. Here's a glimpse of the second-half top 10 and some other key players (based on "Best of 9" since the French Open.

1. Federer
2. Roddick
3. Davydenko
4. F. Gonzalez
5. Nadal
6. Berdych
7. Gasquet
8. Murray
9. Blake
10. Robredo
11. Haas
12. Ancic
14. Baghdatis
15. Hewitt
18. Safin
21. Ljubicic
34. Nalbandian
 -- Jim Green, Worcester, Mass.

This is interesting. Thanks for taking the time to compile it. The obvious flaw is that it doesn't account for clay-court season. If Roddick's results are better January-May, than June-November, he's likely in a world of hurt. Likewise, it stands to reason that Nalbandian will do better in the spring than the summer and fall. The Masters Cup and corresponding points race, of course, takes the entire season into account.

I think it's safe to say that Martina Hingis' '06 comeback was very successful and one of the biggest stories of the year. Now that she has a full season and two more titles under her belt, how do you see her doing next season? Do you believe she'll be able to take that next step and consistently challenge for Grand Slams? She proved the critics wrong in '06 who said she wouldn't be able to compete with the big hitters and made it back into the top 10. Will she defy them again and take a Slam anytime soon?
 -- Mike, Meredith, N.H.

Note to the WTA: we probably get more questions about Hingis than any other player. Just a little informal focus group info. Anyway, I see next year as a make-or-break year for Hingis. She ought to be pleased with her comeback, finishing solidly in the top 10, steering clear of injury and beating a few decent players along the way. On the other hand, she is still susceptible to power and her Slam results got progressively worse. She was a few points from reaching the semis in Melbourne. By the U.S. Open, she was out early to Virginie Razzano. If she can't improve in '07 and continues getting outhit, I could see her ending her comeback. On the other hand, if she catches a few breaks, I think a Slam isn't out of the question. Don't expect her to beat, say, Sharapova and JH-H in back-to-back rounds. But if she can snake through a draw and find, say, Svetlana Kuznetsova on the other side of the net in the final ... voila.

Hey Jon, You're a smart, reasonably handsome fella, so please answer a quick question: I've just read about the exhibition match in Korea between Federer and Nadal. Considering egos, the preservation of records (ancient or recent), the risk of unnecessary injuries and necessity to give a reasonable performance for the sponsors, what would be the likely "terms of engagement" of this encounter?
 -- Jason MacDonald, Wellington, England

No really, you had me at "reasonably handsome." My best guess: they split $1 million, 60-40.

Are my eyes deceiving me? Is the Sergei Bubka of Ukraine who was granted a wild card into this week's Dnepropetrovsk Challenger the same pole vaulter of Olympic fame? If so, kudos to him for a tight two-set loss to fourth seed Daniele Bracciali.
 -- Robert Webb, Dalton, Ga.

Good catch. You're right. It's the son of the pole vaulter.

Shots, Miscellany

• The Oliver Group, a Florida-based real estate and development company, will become the title sponsor of the Outback Champions Series tennis tournament in Naples, Fla., for the next three years, beginning with the '07 event to be played March 7-11 at The Players Club and Spa at Lely Resort.

• Anyone else notice that if you went to www.masterscup.com it was a site devoted to the book "The Average American." Weirdly enough, the book's author, Kevin O'Keefe is a former ATP staffer.

• Caroline of Rice Univ. writes: "The record is broken, Roger will be No. 1 on Feb. 26th with (at least) 6,470 points; Nadal can't have more than 6,455 points at that time. Roger will stay (at least) 161 consecutive weeks at the top of the ranking if he doesn't win another match until then and Nadal wins everything in sight."

• Brandon Currin of Holt, Mich. writes: "Did you notice the final at the Asuncion Challenger between Flavio Saretta and Guillermo Canas? A couple years ago that would be an ATP Tour Final." Say this about Canas: he didn't wallow in self-pity.

Ivan H. of New York City sends us our Long Lost Sibs:

Hicham Arazi and Ronaldinho.

Have a great week and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!